paul flannery

Meet the new and improved Jeff Green

It’s hard to say which move was the most impressive one Jeff Green pulled off on Sunday night. Maybe it was the smooth dunk he threw down in traffic, or possibly it was the reverse jam he had after driving baseline. There was also a swooping hook and the pair of blocks (plural) he made on 7-foot Sixer center Spencer Hawes at the rim.

In seven preseason games, Green has averaged 14 points and four rebounds, while shooting 49 percent from the floor and 44 percent from 3-point range in 28 minutes a night. On the one hand, those numbers aren’t out of line with his career averages. On the other, it’s obvious to everyone around the Celtics that Green is finally comfortable with his surroundings. It’s not just that he’s making plays, he’s making emphatic plays, and he’s doing it every night.

“Jeff’s a lot more aggressive than I can remember,” Kevin Garnett said. “I can remember when he first got here, maybe he was just understanding his role or whatever, at times he was tentative. Now he has a different appreciation. He’s playing like it. He’s playing like he knows he’s going to be here. He knows his role and he’s aggressive. We’re going to need that from him. He has an old-school game like James Worthy and to see him back, see him refreshed, see him doing the things he loves to do. It’s good to see him back.”

For the record, Green has deflected those Worthy comparisons and honestly, the Celtics would be happy with simply letting Jeff Green be himself. In a way, his year away from basketball after undergoing heart surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm solidified his bond with the franchise and his teammates.

“I just think he’s more aggressive obviously,” Doc Rivers said. “He’s comfortable in his game. He understands how to score, how he can score through our offense. The other part is he’s happy. The guys like him. He likes them. He’s comfortable here now. I think last year, even though he didn’t play, probably did a world of good. Just being around the guys and they accepted him and I think all that helped him. He’s got a chance to be just terrific.”

The Celtics are going to need Green to be terrific, both now and in the future. Danny Ainge invested heavily in the 26-year-old forward in the offseason with a 4-year, $36 million contract. Like it or not, that contract is going to be flash point for everything Green does in his time with Boston.

There are many who say the deal was too much for a player without an obvious position who has posted solid, but hardly spectacular, numbers throughout his career. There are questions about his range and his rebounding, but the single biggest mark against his game is that teams in both Oklahoma City and Boston played better when he was off the floor.

The Celtics feel differently, obviously. They think that given proper time and a defined role, that Green can flourish. As much as anything, that lack of a consistent role was probably the biggest obstacle Green faced once he arrived from Oklahoma City in 2011.

“That’s more on us than on him, probably a little of both,” Rivers said. “He was uncomfortable in a new situation. We weren’t sure exactly how to use him or get him in the right spots.”

He’ll be the sixth man this year. One of several, actually, but Rivers has been using the preseason to try Green out in a number of different lineups. He has been the go-to-scorer, a small forward, a big forward and even a guard-forward hybrid when he’s on the court with Paul Pierce. In each of those configurations, the orders are always the same: be aggressive.

“Jeff stood out [in the preseason] probably more than everybody,” Rivers said. “I thought he established himself with everybody, which I thought was very important for him. We can tell them how good he is. He had to show them and I thought he did that.”

For his part, Green is his own toughest critic.

“I doubt that,” he said when told of Rivers’ comments. “He’s lying to y’all. I think he was being nice for saying that. I’m very hard on myself. I felt like I could have done a lot more. This was a good start to my comeback, my whole journey coming back and playing again. So I’m grateful for everything that’s happened this preseason, but I’m never content with what I’ve [done.]”

This is the new Jeff Green. He’s in fantastic shape and no longer an outsider in a tight-knit locker room. He has a role, albeit one that will vary from night to night and matchup to matchup, but Green is no longer a curiosity. There will be skeptics and rightfully so, but after everything Green has been through he deserves the chance to prove himself all over again.

“I’m excited about the team that we have,” Green said. “Any team that’s out there, I’ll be there to guard 1 through 5. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Flannery joins Mut to break down the Isaiah Thomas trade to Boston and what it means for the Celtics this season and in the future. Paul also chats with Mut about the other deals that happened at the NBA's trading deadline

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